Sophia Loren rightly said, When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts.

A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child. Good Morning Everyone Today I, Rupish Saldi, of Ramjas College have got the privilege to speak on very imp topic of medical sciences, ROLE OF FAMILY AND COMMUNITY IN PROMOTING BREAST FEEDING AND COMPLIMENTARY FEEDING. Breast feeding is a conventional method to feed the young ones in mammals. Breastfeeding is the feeding of an infant or young child with breast milk directly from female human breasts (i.e., via lactation) rather than from a baby bottle or other container. Babies have a sucking reflex that enables them to suck and swallow milk. Human breast milk is the healthiest form of milk for babies. There are few exceptions, such as when the mother is taking certain drugs or is infected with human T-lymphotropic virus, HIV, or has active untreated tuberculosis. Breastfeeding promotes health and helps to prevent disease. The World Health Organization (WHO) and the American Academy of Paediatrics (AAP) emphasize the value of breastfeeding for mothers as well as children. Both recommend exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months of life and then supplemented breastfeeding for at least one year and up to two years or more. When breast milk is no longer enough to meet the nutritional needs of the infant, complementary foods should be added to the diet of the child. The transition from exclusive breastfeeding to family foods, referred to as complementary feeding, typically covers the period from 6 to 18-24 months of age, and is a very vulnerable period. It is the time when malnutrition starts in many infants, contributing significantly to the high prevalence of malnutrition in children less than five years of age world-wide. WHO estimates that 2 out of 5 children are stunted in low-income countries.

Complementary feeding should be timely, meaning that all infants should start receiving foods in addition to breast milk from 6 months onwards. It should be adequate, meaning that the complementary foods should be given in amounts while maintaining breastfeeding. Foods should be prepared and given in a safe manner, meaning that measures are taken to minimize the risk of contamination with pathogens. The adequacy of complementary feeding not only depends on the availability of a variety of foods in the household, but also on the feeding practices of caregivers. Feeding young infants requires active care and stimulation, where the caregiver is responsive to the child clues for hunger and also encourages the child to eat.

The majority of mothers intend to breastfeed when their baby is born. There are many things that happen that disrupt or intervene in this plan. Ignorance Personal breastfeeding is the biologic norm but in absence of watching others nurse their babies, it is a lost art as well. Partner Partners are also lacking in basic breastfeeding knowledge and are typically unsure of their role in breastfeeding.

Practitioner Physicians and nurses have surprising little training in lactation and lactation support.

Work Force Returning to work is the most common cited reason for discontinuing breastfeeding. For Example maternity leave in the US varies widely despite the Family Medical Leave Act (FMLA), which provides most working mothers up to 12 weeks. Poor Latch - Pain caused from mis-positioning the baby on the breast or a tongue-tie in the infant can cause great pain in the mother and therefore discourage her from breastfeeding.

But the most important point to be discussed is the role of society in these cases. We live in a society that bases its ideologies on stigmas, social norms and hear say. The society has build many myths around breast feeding, something thats debilitating the bond between a mother and her child Like for example Breastfeeding babies need extra vitamin D. Not true! Except in extraordinary circumstances (for example, if the mother herself was vitamin D deficient during the pregnancy). The baby stores vitamin D during the pregnancy, and a little outside exposure, on a regular basis, gives the baby all the vitamin D he needs And Breast milk does not contain enough iron for the baby's needs. Not true again!! Breast milk contains just enough iron for the baby's needs. If the baby is full term he will get enough iron from breast milk to last him at least the first 6 months. The society should base its actions upon facts and not upon myths. Society is creepy not breastfeeding When looked at objectively, breastfeeding does matter. The health outcomes of breastfed children and breastfeeding mothers are better. There is no doubt about that. When looked at subjectively, within the lens of any individual mothers decision about how to feed her child, breastfeeding may not win out. While I think each mother has the right to decide how to feed her child, I do think that there are way too many societal barriers to breastfeeding and those barriers are what keeps breastfeeding rates much lower than they should be But the biggest problem I think is the characterization of breastfeeding as creepy. One of the biggest societal barriers to breastfeeding is the attitude among much of the public that breastfeeding is creepy. This is why women are constantly told to go nurse in the bathroom or to cover up. It is why women are embarrassed to feed their babies in public and feel like they need to hide at home or in their car or take a bottle with them when they go out. Our society doesnt see breastfeeding as something that is natural and normal. As Washington Irving said: The tie which links mother and child is of such pure and immaculate strength as to be never violated. ~

And our society needs to realize that... Until that happens a mother and a child wouldnt get the natural benefits they deserve With this I rest my case Thank you for patient listening